Device Dependent Rendering

1. A computer-implemented method for processing a character for display on a raster output device, the method comprising: receiving a character having a plurality of stems, each stem having a center, the center of each stem having an ideal location for display, wherein the ideal location is the location of the center of the stem before an adjustment to any alignment grid; evaluating a plurality of alignment grids to determine a grid-imposed location for the center of each stem on each of the plurality of alignment grids, wherein each alignment grid is shifted in phase, the grid-imposed location for a single stem being a location obtained by aligning the single stem to a respective alignment grid; computing an error for each of the plurality of alignment grids, each error being computed based on differences between the ideal locations for the stem centers and the respective grid-imposed locations for the stem centers; selecting a best alignment grid from the plurality of alignment grids, the best alignment grid having a smallest error; and rendering the character based on the best alignment grid.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the character is created at a type size by a font having font metrics including hinting information defining the center of each respective stem in the plurality of stems.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving sub-pixel geometry information for the raster output device defining a geometry of addressable sub-pixels, the raster output device having a plurality of pixels, each pixel including multiple sub-pixels, wherein rendering the character includes using the sub-pixel geometry information to determine which sub-pixels to illuminate when a stem in the plurality of stems is not aligned to a pixel boundary.

4. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising: receiving device specific data derived specifically for the raster output device, the raster output device having a plurality of pixels, each pixel including multiple sub-pixels, where the device specific data includes a plurality of functions including one function for each color plane used by the raster output device; and determining an intensity for each sub-pixel of the raster output device using the device specific data to derive intensity data specifically for the raster output device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the error includes: obtaining a stem width of a stem in the plurality of stems; converting the obtained stem width into an integer number of device pixels belonging to the raster output device, each device pixel including a plurality of sub-pixels; if the number of device pixels is a non-zero even number, determining a preferred alignment of the center of the stem to be a boundary between two sub-pixels; and if the number of device pixels is not a non-zero even number, determining a preferred alignment of the center of the stem to be a sub-pixel center.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein: computing the error includes determining a smallest difference between any of the ideal locations for the centers of the plurality of stems and the respective grid-imposed locations for the centers of the plurality of stems.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing the error includes determining a smallest sum of the differences between the ideal locations for the centers of the plurality of stems and the respective grid-imposed locations for the centers of the plurality of stems.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering includes: rendering the character at a resolution that is three or more times higher than a resolution of the raster output device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering includes: rendering the character in accordance with a hard-edged policy that does not allow anti-aliasing of horizontal and vertical stems.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering includes: rendering the character in accordance with a soft-edged policy that allows anti-aliasing of horizontal and vertical stems.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering includes: dynamically determining if the rendering is to be performed in accordance with a hard-edged policy or a soft-edged policy.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein rendering includes: determining, based on user input, if the rendering is to be performed in accordance with a hard-edged policy or a soft-edged policy.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the raster output device has a plurality of pixels, and each pixel includes multiple sub pixels, the method further comprising: aligning each stem to a best sub-pixel boundary, the best sub-pixel boundary determined according to the best alignment grid.